1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable electronic device that has a communication function relating to a multicast service, a content information server, a content list providing method, and a recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is proposed a communication device that allows plural terminals to simultaneously receive content data, using a multicast service.
3GPP2 Specification C. S0005-Rev. D and 3GPP2 Specification C. S0054 disclose a specific method for providing a multicast service through cellular phones.
Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2001-308856 discloses a method of causing a wireless terminal located within the service area of an information distribution device to receive management information, which associates information for identifying a multicast content with a wireless channel used for distribution of the multicast content, from the information distribution device, and providing the multicast content to the wireless terminal through the wireless channel used for the distribution of the multicast content indicated by the management information.
Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2003-158726 discloses a method of causing a reception terminal to transmit current location information (for example, a zip code, a telephone number) indicating the current location thereof to a program information server together with a channel number, and to receive information on contents in accordance with the current location from the program information server.
According to this method, when contents and contents distribution schedules differ for large measures like prefecture-by-prefecture, only information on contents distributed at the current location of the reception terminal can be received. When the contents and the contents distribution schedules differ sector-by-sector, however, it is necessary to store enormous quantity of program information in the program information server sector by sector.
Further, nowhere in Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2003-158726 is disclosed a method of searching a base station with which the reception terminal can communicate at the current location thereof and transmitting information for specifying the searched base station to the program information server.